Load distribution
From KayakWiki
Where to store food?
When packing a kayak, you should consider that food smells should be kept off of other gear. This is especially important if you are in bear country. Do you have a day hatch? - consider using it for food and cooking gear. If the hatch opening is big enough, put the pots and all kitchen stuff in there as well as food and drinks. This has a couple of advantages:
- Food, pots and such are usually heavy, and putting this in the day hatch puts it close to the center of gravity
- By being in a separate compartment, the smells will not migrate to your tent, clothes etc.
Loading a sea kayak will affect its performance. In general, you want to load the kayak so that the distribution of load does not negatively affect performance.
Rules of thumb:
- Heavy articles should be at the bottom and near the cockpit.
- Light articles should be on top and near the bow and stern.
- There should be slightly more weight toward the stern than toward the bow.
If heavy articles are placed low, the center of gravity of the kayak will stay low and the stability is improved. If the heavy articles are near the cockpit, the moment of inertia about a vertical or a beam-wise horizontal axis through the center of gravity will be reduced. This will mean that the pitch and yaw motions will be least inhibited. For yaw, that means the kayak will still be easy to turn. In pitch, that means that the kayak will pitch easily. In heavy weather, loading the kayak with weight in the bow and stern instead of near the cockpit will reduce the tendency to pitch. Some kayaks will be more comfortable if pitching is reduced, so this alternative loading should be considered for rough weather conditions.
Articles that are heavy include tent poles, pots and pans, water and wet foods, repair kits and so on. Clothes tend to be light. Tents should be packed with the poles separate from the body and fly. The poles fit well in the very bottom of the hull, especially with slight V hull shapes.
Keeping the load slightly stern heavy will tend to improve tracking. If the kayak is loaded bow-heavy, the bow will dig in, messing up the longitudinal stability and resulting in a kayak that tends to wander to the left or right. Making the kayak slightly stern heavy will keep the kayak tracking nicely. Too much weight in the stern will cause the kayak to become very sluggish.
